


Game Changer

by aNonny_mouse



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Musical!Rem, Naomi gets a death note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26143648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aNonny_mouse/pseuds/aNonny_mouse
Summary: A real old one shot. The prompt was Naomi Misora with Musical!Rem as her shinigami.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Game Changer

The world of humans is so fragile, so uneven, it looks as though it would blow over at any moment, with such haughty inhabitants, unaware of their own insignificance, their own youth in the scope of the universe, the brave egotism of children tottling about near a cliff. Somehow they manage time and again to step ahead just as the rocks beneath their previous step tumble away, and when they trip over some passing rock, they rub their head and mourn for a moment, only to continue onwards with unwavering enthusiasm.

For Ryuk to interfere in an already precarious situation as thus, she wonders how much damage the humans can bear. Of course, whether the child stays or falls is of no consequence to her, as there is no point in holding off the inevitable. Regardless, she cannot help but watch to their tragic end, and now that she has found someone of interest, perhaps it would be fine to move in a bit closer, to see the consequences of such foolish notions as love and justice.

As she peers over a certain scene, Rem allows a book to fall from her hands and twist on the wind down down towards the ground.

Bernard Trosten, age 35, a mass shooter.

Elijah Ramone, age 42, serial kidnapper.

Francine Dumont, age 29, arsonist and murderer.

Today’s victims of a mysterious string of heart attacks in North America alone. It’s 10 am. The criminals chosen from other countries tend to be guilty of larger crimes overall when compared to those in Japan. It makes sense why L would focus here in particular, and why the name that would never find its way onto one of these lists, that meant more to her than any passing criminal on news sites or the daily broadcast, Raye Penber, had been called to investigate in the Kanto area, and why he had died.

Naomi had been running her own investigation, asking around about witnesses to the busjacking that had ultimately led to his demise. If only she could figure who else was on that bus. Whoever had asked for his name that day had to have been Kira, or at the very least some accomplice, but there was only so much power she had as an unaffiliated individual. Perhaps if she still had her badge… It was no use speculating on that, the most she could do was find something substantial enough to bring to L and hope on hopes that he would hear her out. Hopefully their previous case had left as much of an impression on him as it had on her. He had trusted her then and she had to believe he would do the same now.

As she was walking, a dark shape darted past her eye. She followed the motion and saw a journal meet the floor. She traced its path back in front of her to a couple walking down the street. She grabbed the book and hurried back towards them.

“Excuse me, did this belong to either of you?”

They stopped and turned to look at her outstretched hands.

“Um, no, sorry,” the man replied before looking at his partner. They shook their head in response.

“Alright, sorry to bother you,” she nodded and let them be.

She looked up, all of the windows in the building nearby were closed and she couldn’t make out any figures on the roof. The book itself wasn’t very remarkable, except for some odd characters across the front. If read in English it might be ‘2rvc-5’ or ‘arvc-S’ though its resemblance to either seemed a bit forced. The first few pages were just a list of names, perhaps a record of some kind. Someone would likely be missing this. Since no one else was around, the most likely option was that it had somehow fallen from the office building beside her, and she made her way to turn it in at the reception.

“Hello, I noticed this notebook as I was walking by, and I think it may have fallen from one of the offices here.” She handed the book over for inspection.

“Hm, I don’t recognize it myself, but I’ll ask around with the employees. Thank you for turning it in.”

“I hope there’ll be no trouble in finding its owner, “ Naomi nodded then paused, “Also, is there a bathroom I may use?”

“Of course,” the receptionist directs her to the right hallway and she walks into a stall. As she washes her hands she makes note of a figure in the mirror. Her eyes widen and she swivels to see someone watching her from the side of the room.

They were dressed in white rags, long silver hair with blue tips, the same blue powdered across their lips and dripped delicately down their cheek like an eternal tear. They’re somewhat taller than the average person and they have an ephemeral quality, like a spirit with eyes painted in quiet sorrow. Making out their hands amongst the white strips, they’re exceedingly pale with long pointed nails, and their decorum seems almost a part of them, like the fabric is actually strips of their skin peeling and hanging like the boughs of a willow.

“M- May I help you?” her first word sticking in her mouth.

“I did not mean to startle you.” Her voice was soft and yet somehow imposing against the silence of the room. “My name is Rem, and I am a shinigami.” Naomi returned a doubtful look. Was this some sort of stage actor? “I dropped the notebook that you picked up.”

“Oh, is that yours? I left it with the receptionist up front.”

“You may wish to retrieve it. That notebook has a power that should not be in just any hands.”

Now she wasn’t quite sure how to respond. If this was a stage actor, they were very invested in their character. If it’s a prank, should she play along? She wasn’t really in the mood for such antics though. “That receptionist looked like a nice person. I’m sure they would handle the responsibility just fine. I must get going now.”

Rem tilted her head ever so slightly, “I see. I thought you might be interested because of your fascination with the one you call, Kira.” At that she paused. She turned to size up the stranger anew. Even if they were bluffing, they know enough about her to know of her interest to the case. Have they been following her? Never once did she mention Kira when investigating on her own, then do they know of that connection as well?

“What do you know of Kira?” Misora asked.

“They are a human using a book just like the one that you found. That book has the power to kill the person whose name is written in it.” A name. The pages of that book were lined with names, and a name is what killed Raye. Prank or not..

In an instant, she was out of the bathroom and back at the front desk. “Pardon me,” she nervously placed a hand behind her head and smiled at the receptionist, “Now that I think about it, I may know just who that book belongs to. May I have it back?”

“Oh is that so? In that case,” she slid the notebook back to Naomi, who breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Thank you very much, and sorry for the intrusion.”

“It’s no problem,” the receptionist nodded back at her. Naomi turned to the hall deciding where to go now. It would be odd to go back to the bathroom, but surely the shinigami, if that really was what they were, would stand out if they were to go anywhere else and she still had questions to ask. She decided to walk out the door and hope that Rem would follow. If they came in here unnoticed then they could surely make their way back out as well.

Once outside she went a few steps down the sidewalk and glanced behind her. When she looked forward again, Rem was right in front of her. She stopped where she was and did an astounded glance back again before setting her focus forwards.

“How did you..”

“I am a shinigami.”

“Right... Well, I’d like to ask you some questions about the Kira case. Would you mind if we go somewhere a little more, private?” Anywhere they go, they were sure to draw attention, but with the sensitivity of the topic she’d rather have as little as possible.

She ended up deciding on a café nearby with a booth in the far corner. The server assumed that she was alone, to which Rem explained that only those who have touched the notebook may see her. The shinigami’s claims seemed to grow more credible as no one else reacted to her presence. This served as a plus for now, though that means that once they sit down, she’ll appear to be talking to the air. She decided to pull out some papers she’d been carrying around so that hopefully people would assume that she was an actor practicing her lines or a writer thinking aloud, she also kept her voice hushed just in case.

Naomi looked at Rem across the table from her. Their appearance still threw her off. They were so otherworldly, it was odd attempting to hold normal conversation. Ultimately, she decided to go straight to the point.

“Firstly, how do you know me?”

“I have been watching you and others from the shinigami realm ever since Ryuk dropped his notebook into this world.”

She placed a suspension of disbelief on the whole shinigami thing for now, “Ryuk?”

“He is another shinigami. His notebook is currently in the possession of Kira.”

“Did Kira take it from him?”

“No, when the notebook touches the ground, it becomes property of the human realm. Kira was the first to pick it up and thus took ownership, just as you did.”

Naomi looked at the notebook beside her and brought it up to the table. She flipped through the pages again but still didn’t recognize any of the names.

“Then these are all people who have died, correct?”

“Yes, when a name is written the person will die of a heart attack unless otherwise specified.” Misora perked up at this.

So a notebook _can_ kill by ways other than heart attack, she knew it. She spent the next hour asking all of the specifications of the notebook. Between bites of the sandwich ordered to assuage the waiter, she asked about the rules, the information she knows on Ryuk and Kira, the origin of this notebook in particular, the shinigami realm in general, and she slowly begins to accept this all as truth.

This information would be invaluable to the Kira investigation, and she made up her mind to visit their headquarters immediately. This could be the tipping point, the one thing she needed to avenge Raye and all of the innocent people who have been harmed by Kira’s toxic ideology. Her eyes ablaze with a renewed determination, she left a tip and made her way towards true justice.


End file.
